Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League, on Sunday affirmed that the next Arab Summit would be held as scheduled next March in Beirut.

Regarding the participation of Libyan leader Ghadafi in the summit in Beirut, Moussa said that ‘calm consultations’ and diplomacy were needed. The Libyan ruler has stated that Lebanon is the side that does not want to host the forthcoming Arab summit adding that this seems likely from calls by its (Lebanon) legislative establishments to postpone this summit.

Ghadafi said that Libya refuses for the event to be postponed, and therefore, “The next Arab summit should be transferred from Lebanon into the headquarters of the Arab league in Cairo.”

Libya's move follows demands from the Shiite Amal party in Lebanon to bar the Libyan president from attending the summit. Lebanon's Shiites hold Ghadafi responsible for the disappearance of their spiritual leader, Moussa Sadr, in 1978. “There is a Libyan proposal that the summit be held at the Arab League headquarters, there are some differences over this issue,” Moussa said in response.

In Beirut, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri also confirmed that the country would host the summit as planned. (Albawaba.com)